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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. rash — hasty
  3. land — a country
  4. cap — of ice
  5. spell — letters
  6. land — to come down
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. rash — a series
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. spell — magic
  12. perch — the fish
  13. cap — a lid
  14. current — electric
  15. file — a line of people
  16. current — happening now
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. spell — a short time
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. current — of water
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a tool
  23. cap — a hat
  24. land — ground

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com